He was still in his 20s back in 2000, when the Steelers -- led back then by a
chinny fellow named Cowher -- last completed two NFL seasons without earning a
postseason berth.

Stretching that streak to 13 years won't be as easy as the Steelers get ready
to open the 2013 season against the Tennessee Titans.

Pittsburgh was an underwhelming 8-8 last season and enters the 2013 schedule
with a number of question marks after a wave of free agent exits and offseason
injuries flooded the roster.

QB Ben Roethlisberger lost certified deep threat Mike Wallace to a huge
contract Miami and could be without safety valve tight end Heath Miller for at
least the opener thanks to a lingering knee injury suffered late last season.
In their combined absence arrive understudies Antonio Brown and Emmanuel
Sanders, who topped triple-digit catches and four-digit receiving yards as a
tandem last season. Also available and important early is rookie Markus
Wheaton.

Roethlisberger himself isn't the healthiest of quarterbacks after a 2012
season in which he sustained shoulder and rib injuries in Week 10 and missed
three crucial games at the top of the season's homestretch. His effectiveness
was tangibly reduced after his return, with the completion percentage down
nearly 10 full points and the same number of INTs in the final four games
as in the first nine.

As a result, the Steelers' playoff-worthy 6-3 start devolved into a mediocre
8-8 finish.

It was their first postseason miss since 2009 and just the second in six years
under Tomlin, who won a Super Bowl in year two on the job after the 2008
season. Pittsburgh missed the playoffs in 1998, 1999 and 2000 while going 7-9,
6-10 and 9-7 in Cowher's seventh, eighth and ninth seasons, then began a
stretch in which they've qualified in eight of 12 years.

"I like our preparation," Tomlin said. "We are focused on what is going to be
required for us to do to win this weekend. We're going to take a business-like
approach to it like we did in the preseason."

In the backfield, Roethlisberger will lean on Isaac Redman, who's trying to
come back from missing the final two preseason games with a neck injury.
Second-round draft pick Le'Veon Bell suffered a sprained foot and is trying to
recover, while last year's team leader on the ground, Jonathan Dwyer, was cut.

Redman had 410 rushing yards and two TDs in intermittent duty last season, and
added four receptions and 105 yards in a Week 6 loss at Tennessee.

"We know what Isaac is capable of," Tomlin said. "He's answered the bell for
us in the past and we expect him to do it in a big way moving forward starting
this weekend."

The Titans field a new-look defense under the guidance of Gregg Williams,
who's back from a one-year NFL-imposed exile after the bounty issues that
emanated from New Orleans two years ago.

Tennessee is in particular need of a quick fix after allowing a league-worst
29.4 points per game last season.

On offense, reinforcements arrived to the front line in the form of guard Andy
Levitre, center Rob Turner and draft pick Chance Warmack, who'll aim to
protect third-year passer Jake Locker.

Locker missed five games due to injury in 2012 and, like Roethlisberger, also
struggled upon his return. He averaged only 147 pass yards per game in the
season's final three weeks and compiled 2,176 yards with 11 INTs and 10 TDs
overall.

Among his targets for 2013 are newcomers Kevin Walter (free agent) and Justin
Hunter (draft choice). Holdover Kendall Wright led Tennessee with 64 catches
as a rookie and Kenny Britt is also back and presumably healthier after a
serious knee injury.

"We want to take it to the next level," Britt said. "We don't want to be one
of them mediocre teams out there not making the playoffs every year."

Sharing that aim is running back Chris Johnson, a former 2,000-yard rusher who
again cracked 1,000 in 2012. He ended with 1,243 yards and six TDs in spite of
a late slump that saw him average just 60.2 yards per game in the final five
weeks.

He's never rushed for 100 yards against the Steelers, who'll start the season
with both linebacker LaMarr Woodley and safety Troy Polamalu, each of whom
missed time due to injury in 2012. Another of the Steelers' familiar names,
James Harrison, is now a Cincinnati Bengal after he was released.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:

A healthy Polamalu will be a significant obstacle for Tennessee's Johnson as
the latter seeks to return to his past 2,000-yard form. He's expected to play
close to the line of the scrimmage and use his speed to contend with Johnson,
whose speed is also a factor against a less-than-fleet Steelers linebacking
corps.

Going the other direction, it'll be a matchup between newly christened No. 1
Pittsburgh receiver Antonio Brown and Tennessee's top cover cornerback, Jason
McCourty. Brown won't be the deep threat that predecessor Wallace was before
bolting for Miami, and he'll likely face routine man coverage from McCourty,
who'll need to stay close to negate the play-sustaining ability of
Roethlisberger.

The more success McCourty has, the more Pittsburgh will be forced to rely on
the running backs.

OVERALL ANALYSIS

Heading into Heinz Field to begin the season isn't typically an enviable task,
but this year's Steelers -- at least at the outset -- don't appear to be the
typical Steelers.

If Johnson can get to 100 yards and Locker can stay vertical for the majority
of 60 minutes, Tennessee might just have enough of a firepower advantage to
repeat last season's triumph.